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Off-track betting could be in the cards for Syracuse as NY Senate prepares to vote on bill

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Daniel O'Grady, of Syracuse, is shown at OTB in Bridgeport in this file photo from 2011. The New York State Senate is scheduled to vote today on legislation that would allow Syracuse to decide whether to open an OTB parlor, a move that the Onondaga County Legislature has blocked for a decade.
(Michelle Gabel | mgabel@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- An off-track betting parlor could open in Syracuse, despite long-time objections from the Onondaga County Legislature, if an under-the-radar attempt to approve the horse race betting parlors makes it through Albany.

The Onondaga County Legislature has consistently opposed OTB since 2004. Most recently, county lawmakers voted down proposals in 2011 and 2012.

A spokeswoman for Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said in 2011 that the city would consider cutting its own deal to invite off track betting into Syracuse if the county Legislature rejected it.

Now, state lawmakers seem to be steering in that direction. Instead of seeking to put the entire county into an OTB authority, the proposed law would allow the city alone to join the Capital Region OTB Authority.

In fact, the proposed state legislation actually excludes Onondaga County from the decision-making process, saying the betting "shall not require the participation or approval of Onondaga County."

"That's quite an end-around, isn't it?" said county Legislator Kathleen Rapp, R-Salina, who first learned of the legislation this morning from a reporter.

Instead, the power is left in the hands of the New York State Legislature, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (who must sign the legislation) and ultimately the Syracuse Common Council.

Miner and Syracuse councilors have not publicly discussed OTB in months.

Capital OTB officials have said that a betting parlor in Syracuse would attract about $20 million to $30 million in wagers a year. If Onondaga County approved OTB, the betting would generate at least $1 million annually for the county government and about $250,000 a year for the city as a "host fee," John Signor, Capital OTB's president and CEO said in 2011. If Syracuse approves an OTB deal on its own, Signor said Syracuse would get "a little less" than what the county would have received because the city's population is less than the county's population.

There is a precedent for a city hosting off-track betting without its surrounding county joining in. The city of Schenectady is a member of Capital OTB, but Schenectady County is not.

Sens. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, and David Valesky, D-Oneida, are sponsors of the Senate bill, which was introduced May 14. In the Assembly, Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, introduced the same bill on May 23. There is no vote scheduled in the Assembly.

Syracuse Common Council President Van Robinson said he's had no recent talks with the state lawmakers or Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner about the possibility of the city having the power to open an OTB parlor. Robinson, a Democrat, said he supports giving the city council a vote on the matter, but is undecided on whether to expand gambling inside Syracuse.

In the past, Rapp has supported OTB inside the county. Today, she said she'd heard nothing about the proposed legislation.

"It's the first I've heard of it," she said this morning. "I didn't even know that was possible."

The county Legislature's Democratic Floor Leader Linda Ervin, D-Jamesville, is opposed to OTBs in general, and especially in the city. She, too, had not heard of the bill until told today by a reporter.

"I don't see any jobs being created by OTB, and they're not bringing in a whole lot of money," Ervin said, who represents part of the city. "I don't see them as money makers. All I see in them is desperate-looking folks who hang out there all day."

The state Legislature is scheduled to end its regular 2013 session on June 20.